Effect of Kombucha in aflatoxin-contaminated diets on growth performance, antioxidant status and liver function of broiler chicken

Abstract

Introduction: liver is the main organ that processes and detoxifies mycotoxins and protects the
body against their toxic effects. Aflatoxin B1 can cause unbalanced metabolism of fat and
increase its size by depositing lipids in the liver and suppress the activity of antioxidant enzymes
and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Kombucha has liver protection effects due to antioxidant
compounds, yeasts and acid-producing bacteria.
Materials & Methods: a number of 320 male broiler chickens were used to investigate the effect
of kombucha tea in reducing aflatoxin toxicity, in a 4x2 factorial arrangement based on a
completely randomized design using 8 treatments, four replications and 10 broiler chicken pieces
in each replication. The first factor was the amount of aflatoxin in the diet at two levels of zero
and 2.5 mg per kg of diet and the second factor was Kombucha at four levels of zero, 5, 10 and
15 ml per 100 ml of drinking water.
Results: Aflatoxin significantly reduced daily weight gain, feed consumption, and production
efficiency during the initial, growth, and final periods (P˂0.05). During the growth period and at
the end of level 10, kombucha had a greater daily weight gain compared to other treatments. The
use of 5, 10 and 15 ml of kombucha in 100 ml of drinking water showed a significant decrease
in feed consumption compared to the zero level (P˂0.05). The use of kombucha, aflatoxin and
their interaction had no significant effect on the feed conversion ratio (P˃0.05). Kombucha had
no significant effect on production efficiency index (P˃0.05). Aflatoxin caused a significant
increase in weight and percentage of liver fat in broilers (P˂0.05). Aflatoxin significantly
increased the level of aspartate-aminotransferase and decreased serum alkaline-phosphatase
(P˂0.05), but had no effect on the level of alanine-aminotransferase. Using 15 ml of kombucha
in 100 ml of water showed the lowest amount of alanine aminotransferase. The use of aflatoxin
in the diet significantly increased glutathione-peroxidase and the addition of kombucha to
drinking water significantly decreased the level of serum glutathione-peroxidase (P˂0.05).
Conclusion: According to the results of our research, using 5 and 10 ml of kombucha in 100 ml
of drinking water can reduce the negative effects of aflatoxin.